


Spiderweb

by swiftishere



Series: MSA AU Bin [9]
Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Body Horror, Gen, Magic Healing, Multi, Non-Graphic Violence, Pining, Possession, Pre-Relationship, Revealed Secret Identity, Secret Identity, Villain Arthur, the mythical reverse pining where it's VIVI AND LEWIS who have heart eyes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:54:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27663668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swiftishere/pseuds/swiftishere
Summary: Hero-ing is dangerous business, and there's a reason most heroes keep their identity secret. But that doesn't make it any easier on Vivi and Lewis, and they're reaching a breaking point with how much they're willing to keep from Arthur.On the other side of things, Arthur doesn't have much of a choice.
Relationships: Arthur & Lewis & Vivi (Mystery Skulls Animated), Arthur/Lewis/Vivi (Mystery Skulls Animated), Lewis & Mystery & Vivi (Mystery Skulls Animated)
Series: MSA AU Bin [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1942603
Comments: 17
Kudos: 108





	Spiderweb

**Author's Note:**

> the body horror isn't SUPER graphic but if that / loss of control is a problem for you, when you get to "There's a small, secluded area off to the side of the restaurant" ctrl+F to "rapidly falling in strength" to skip past it.
> 
> also i'm just gonna keep recycling the same cool secret identity names for everyone. thief!vivi is the snow fox, hero!vivi gets to be the snow fox too.

Inside the lair of the Snow Fox and the Ghost, the city's widely-revered heroes, Vivi, Lewis, and Mystery are having a discussion. More of an argument, really, about Arthur.

"I just think he deserves to know!" Vivi says, her voice growing steadily more insistent, and she bangs the table. "How much has he done for us already? And he has _no_ idea who we really are! It isn't _fair!"_

"I know! I hate keeping a secret from him too." Lewis sighs, studying his skull mask instead of his teammates. "But- it's dangerous. I don't want to get him any more involved in this than he already is."

"That's my point _exactly!_ He's _been_ involved in this, for _years!_ How much shit has he built and fixed for us, stuff that's saved our _lives_ , and we don't even tell him the truth about what it's _for?_ What kinds of friends does that make _us?"_

"Vivi." Mystery's stern voice rumbles over the both of them. "I understand your concern, but please, let us exercise caution here. I do not-"

"Oh, right. Because I forgot _you're_ the local expert on keeping _secrets!"_ She whirls on him, jabbing a finger.

His ears fold back, and though his tone is cool, there's a tinge of insult to it. "Oh, _please._ Apparently I _am_ the local expert on rationality." He glances towards Lewis, who hesitates for a moment, and then sighs.

"Okay- look. Let's... think about this objectively."

He leans in towards the table, traditionally their center for planning. "Cons of telling him- hypothetically he's in more danger. We have _no idea_ if the Spider cares about us as civilians, or if it even _understands_ how to leverage other people against us, but if it _is?_ Or if we go up against some more human enemy in the future? The more we pull him into our other lives... the worse that could go."

" _Thank_ you," Mystery says, satisfied.

He's ignored. "Cons of _not_ telling him? It's just going to get harder to keep this from him. I mean- I know- I don't..." he meets Vivi's eyes, and shrugs helplessly. "You know I've never been good at keeping secrets, not from people I love. And... I don't think either of us can stop ourselves from wanting to be closer to him. I know _you_ have no reason to," he tosses a jab at Mystery, "but _we_ care about him as a friend. And- more than that, too. And if he finds out on his own, without either of us telling him...?"

"He'd probably be _really_ fucking mad," Vivi fills in, looking away and tugging at her sleeve. "I know I would."

"He'd be _heartbroken_. That we didn't trust him. And I... I just _really_ want him to know." He slumps back against the chair. "It'd be really nice to have another person I could talk to about... all of this."

"Do what you must," Mystery says, settling back down and pointedly not looking at either of them. "But if you _do_ choose to bring him in, I will no longer consider myself responsible. His safety will be _your_ concern."

Everyone's silent for a moment.

"Sure. I think he already has enough reason not to trust you, anyway," Vivi eventually says, when she finds the words.

* * *

They still haven't _really_ reached a conclusion later that day, when they go out for coffee.

These days, with their reputation being as high as it is, there are less people around to challenge them. And that means more time off. They take advantage of that time off whenever they can, and when things seem _particularly_ safe and they don’t think they’re in danger of being interrupted, they take the opportunity to spend time with Arthur.

These outings, honestly, might be what's making their resolve crack so quickly. And it also might be why Mystery's so against, it, if Vivi had to take a wild guess; he's bitter about having to sit outside the whole time.

Right now Arthur's saying something to Lewis, and she's losing track of the conversation a little because he's got that happy not-quite-a-smile on his face, the one that's barely more than a curl of the lips and crinkling at the corners of his eyes, and with everything else that's happened today she feels a little like her heart is melting. He raises his eyebrows and points, jokingly scolding Lewis for something, and Lewis just laughs and _damnit she loves them both so much_.

"Oh- but you were s-saying? About that, um, new...?" He turns back to her, and she has to fight back a big, stupid grin.

"Yeah, so I was thinking it might be a fun thing for us to all go do, get some tickets and go see it when it opens!" she chirps, giving him a bright-but-not-completely-hopeless smile.

"Oh, huh, that s-sounds-" he starts, and then Vivi's phone beeps, rather rudely interrupting him.

She glances down at it for a brief moment - and then winces. The screen is lit up with a display of the city, green light flashing near their location. _Spider approaching_ , it warns, just to drive the point home.

"Shit- Lew, we gotta go. That- uh, thing." She glances over at Arthur.

Lewis picks up on what she means, at least. "Oh- okay. Arthur, I'm sorry we keep running out on you like this- we don't mean to, it's just..."

"No, you're busy, you've got shit to do!" He waves them off with an attempt at an encouraging smile. "I get it, it's f-fine. Don't let- don't let me keep you."

He doesn't _look_ like it's fine. He looks tired, and worried, and the half-grin is strained. But Lewis really doesn't have time to reflect on that, because he has to grab his bag and duck off with Vivi.

Arthur knows exactly how much time he has. He watches them leave, sees Vivi's little dog pick himself up and trot away with them, and then takes a slow, deep breath, and stands up.

There's a small, secluded area off to the side of the restaurant - it's why he prefers this place, if he's being honest - and he manages to make it there before dropping to his knees.

It always starts with a building pressure at the back of his neck, that almost seems like an oncoming migraine at first, and something - it feels like bile but it's not, it never is - rising in the back of his throat. While he still has the strength to sit up without supporting himself, he scrabbles at his arm until his fingers find the disconnect and it clatters to the ground. He's _not_ losing another one of those to this transformation. His vision dims, a coating of _something_ slipping over them like shades. In a few seconds he can't keep himself upright anymore. Finally the pressure builds to a point of sharp, stabbing pain in the base of his skull, and he feels something snaking around his throat.

He retches, but nothing hits the ground. Instead, more of those green veins spread across his face, inching their way down to his chest. All strength failing him, it's all he can do to support himself with one arm, shaking.

Sometimes the _thing_ that takes over him is feeling merciful, and will allow him to slip into unconsciousness while it wreaks havoc on the city. Then, he only returns when it's over, all the monster's energy has been expended, and he's left with the burns and bruises to tend to.

He isn't so lucky this time. His sight is darkened, and sound is muted, but he is still _horribly_ aware of everything that's happening outside. Spindly, dripping limbs snake across his vision, and the ground drops away as the thing lifts his body higher.

And there are Vivi and Lewis, already, waiting for him. So patient. So _devoted_. They're both standing ready to defend their city against the Spider, Vivi in her mask of ice and Lewis with a stylized skull covering his face, with raw power already swirling around them. Mystery's arrived as well, his disguise abandoned, and he feels the control flicker for a moment as a spike of panic rises in his chest. It's quickly smothered.

The pounding pain at the back of his neck worsens, growing white-hot. His friends shift - reacting to something the thing is doing, that he can't see - and then Lewis's hands ignite, pink fire wreathing up his arms, and Vivi readies her sword.

When the thing first started _using_ him, he could hear Vivi and Lewis try to talk to it. First to reason with it, then to warn it off, and then just to goad it into a reaction. It's never responded to anything. He has no idea if it hears them, or understands, or if it _can_ respond. He's acutely aware, with it in his head, of how _alien_ it is, and he's honestly not sure if it has any concept of reason at all. Eventually they seemed to start to understand this, or some part of it at least, and they've been mercifully quiet for the past few months. It had been _hard_ , having to watch and listen to them talk to him like a rabid animal, or shout insults and threats as they swing at him. He knows, rationally, that they're not directed _at_ him - that they'd _never_ talk to him like they talked to that _thing_ \- but it got hard to remember, when they looked at him with that kind of disgust.

He does his best not to pay attention to the combat. He doesn't want to see his friends get hurt, and he doesn't want to watch them try to hurt _him_ , either. He feels brief brushes of fire and ice as they cut closer to him, and his instinct is to shy away, but the thing won't let him.

Dimly he hears Lewis's voice, calling, " _Vivi, the center!"_

_What does that mean-?_ he wonders. And then something cold and sharp cuts into his side, slicing through that weak exoskeleton and cutting into flesh, and his jaw twitches with the stifled effort to cry out in pain.

The thing growls and he's spun back, the momentary gap in the covering rapidly sealed. It makes no attempt to address the wound, and he can _feel_ it cold and wet pressing into the already-stinging cut.

Vivi comes into view again, her sword dripping crimson.

...Oh, god, Vivi tried to stab him. They're trying to attack _him_ now. Not just fending off the creature, but- and they're right, of course, this _is_ the center of its power, but- he wants to _scream- no, I'm in here, please don't hurt me! Please, you don't want to hurt me!_

But he can't. And the thing doesn't care about its host.

It pulls him back and away from Vivi, but then Lewis is there to make another attack. He deals in blunt force, not sharp edges, and his strike sends the Spider collapsing down to the road. His head connects with the pavement, the thing cushioning only some of the impact, and for a brief second he’s aware of nothing but pain. It recovers quickly, rolling and standing back up, but there are stars behind his eyes and his head is spinning and the rapid movement isn't helping the building nausea.

They keep going like that, and the Spider dances and dodges but it's three on one. Mystery's claws bite into his back, and then Lewis hits him again and they don't go nearly as far but he feels something in his chest crack under the blow.

Gradually he feels the thing's mood shift. Its default is - not anger, _exactly_ , but something that could be its cousin - but when it's losing a fight, it shifts into an alien, animal fear - caution? - and it _runs_.

* * *

Stripped of the worst of that overwhelming rotten power, and rapidly falling in strength, the Spider manages to drag itself over some roofs and back into that same sheltered alley it came from, leaving green-and-black webs draped across the buildings. Arthur collapses against the brick wall, gasping.

His head is throbbing where he’d been thrown against the ground. His chest aches something awful, and drawing deep breaths is getting hard. The long cut in his side and the dagger-marks on his back are already staining his clothes a deep red, blood spilling onto the road beneath him.

He tries to stand - he needs to _move_ , to get somewhere safe, away from Lewis and Vivi so he can lick his wounds - but his legs give out before he's even fully up. His vision goes dark for a moment, the world spinning wildly. The familiar nausea, that always comes with that thing’s retreat, is building in the back of his throat, only made worse by what's probably a concussion. He can't even reach his prosthetic, lying tauntingly just out of reach.

So he gives up and lets himself fall to the ground entirely. He can rest for a minute, surely, to catch his breath, before he pushes himself into standing and walking.

* * *

The Snow Fox and the Ghost pursue their disappearing nemesis as soon as they realize what it's doing. Mystery is the closest on its heels, leaping over the roofs right after it, with the two humans trailing not far behind. It still manages to disappear from sight entirely, though. Like it just dissolved and dripped away.

They all drop into the alley where they saw it last, and stop.

“Oh, _no-_ ” Lewis is the first to move, rushing to their friend’s side. He’s unconscious, and breathing, but losing too much blood for comfort, and his healing magic tells him there’s deeper damage - cracks in his ribs, maybe more. His prosthetic has been detached - not damaged, thank _goodness_ , but lying several feet away. And of course there are the lingering traces of the Spider’s sickness, remnants of the attack that must have taken place mere moments ago.

He places a light hand on his chest, healing the deepest injuries first. But he’s barely done with that when suddenly the ground lurches much closer, his vision fading for a moment.

“Lew-?” Vivi’s at his side instantly, supporting his shoulder. “C’mon, don’t you drop on me too-”

“I don’t... have enough strength left,” he tells her, putting a shaking hand over hers. “I can’t heal this.”

She meets his eyes for a moment.

“We can take him home, then.”

“I- wait, _home?_ Are you _sure_ -”

“Apparently we don’t have much of a choice!” Like she's reinforcing what she's saying, Vivi picks up the abandoned prosthetic.

"Surely there are other things you can do." They both look up to see Mystery, who's instinctively keeping a distance, waiting at the entrance to the alley. "This is what hospitals are for, is it not?"

"But-" Lewis's grip on Arthur tightens. He can't bring himself to fully trust them, not with _him_ , not with _this-_ Spider attacks are always a hit-or-miss for their staff, and if he _can_ help him himself, _shouldn't_ he?

"You said it was our decision," Vivi answers for him, squeezing his shoulder. "Well, we're making it. We're bringing him home with us."

He flicks his ears, narrowing his eyes at her. "...Very well."

* * *

Arthur's expecting to come to on cold pavement, leaning up against that same brick wall. Instead he's lying on something soft and warm, and he feels... fine. Not sick, not dizzy, not hurt. He's... okay, somehow.

He debates for a while between exhaustion and confusion, before finally giving in and opening his eyes. The room is white, but not the stark, blinding light of the hospital room he'd half been expecting. Ice blue mixed with warm, dark panelled wood. He blinks a couple times and lets his gaze drift around the space. Where _is_ he?

And then he spies Vivi and Lewis off to one side, talking to each other in low voices, Lewis's mask still in his hands. He starts to put things together with that.

"Uh, guys?" he tries, and winces at how broken his voice still is. "Where... am I?"

Both of them start and look over. Lewis sets the mask down gently, and is the first to walk over to his side.

"You are..." he can see him debating, for a moment, what to say, "in the lair of the Snow Fox."

Vivi grins and taps the side of her face, and the familiar ice mask manifests for a moment. Fortunately, everyone's too busy looking at her to notice Arthur flinch, and then it dissolves again

“Yeah, so,” she chirps, the determinedly cheerful smile wavering a little, “we’re the heroes!”

“Oh.”

Shit, shit _shit_ how is he supposed to respond to this? How would a normal person respond to this? _Shit-_

“Okay.” His brain takes a second more to come up with something convincing. “Wait, _what?!”_

“There it is.”

“So- s-so- you’re actually,” he glances between the two of them, hoping he's performing shock and awe convincingly. “Th- the s-Snow Fox and the Ghost? A- and every time you...”

“Yeah, whenever we showed up all dinged up and stuff- that was from fighting the Spider.”

_I know_ , he wants to cry, _I know how you got all of those, and I’m so, so_ **_sorry_ ** _, I didn’t want to, I’m sorry I let you get hurt, sorry I hurt you-_

“To be honest, we were planning to tell you more, um,” Lewis looks around, rubbing the back of his neck. “Gently? Slower? But, well, you were hurt and we just decided... to bring you here. I know it’s probably a lot to handle at once.”

_Hurt_ , his mind echoes, as he stares at Lewis. He can still feel the remnants of the litany of bruises and cuts left by the two of them, in their last fight. And they still haven’t put things together. “I, uh. Th-thank you. S-s-seriously, I... you brought me... _here_...”

“I’m sorry we let you get hurt,” Vivi interrupts, looking uncharacteristically nervous. “The Spider really snuck up on us that time. If we had been faster-”

They think the _Spider_ attacked him. That’s- okay. He can work with that. It’s better than no story at all, at least. And he’s _very_ familiar with the kinds of attacks the Spider might use on an inconveniently placed bystander.

“Yeah, th-that was, um, scary. Getting attacked like- like th-that.” He stares down at the bed. “Would’ve f-felt better if I’d known you guys were…” 

"We never wanted to keep this from you. It's just-" Lewis shrugs, also not looking at anyone else. "It's not that we didn't trust you! We just... were never completely sure if you'd be _safe._ "

_Not like I'd blame you for not trusting me. I still haven't trusted you two with anything yet_. "No, it's- I get it. So, uh. This is it, huh? Th-the big s-s-secret? There's nothing else I sh-should know about? Like, I'unno, don't s-s-suppose Mystery's also hiding something?" He already knows damn well he is. Fuck that fake dog.

"Actually..."

"No fucking way."

Vivi giggles at that, and he feels a flicker of relief. He can still make her laugh, at least. "Um, I'd bring him in to do a demonstration, but..."

"I can't imagine you'd enjoy that," Lewis fills in for her.

"Yeah, I, uh I'unno what it'd entail, but- but yeah, I'd rather not." Whatever Mystery’s transformation sequence – something he’s never been privy to – looks like, it sounds like a fucking _nightmare_.

“But he’s like, my sidekick. Um, don’t tell him I said that. But – everyone thinks he just comes with the job, and he kinda _does_ , but also... he’s just Mystery.”

“So-“ He tries to sit up, to lean forward, but immediately his vision dims and the strength goes out of his arms, and he falls back. Lewis is there almost immediately, cradling him gently with one arm when his head clears.

“I know you probably have a lot of questions,” he says, voice soft, “but you should really be resting right now. I did everything I could to heal you, but you still need _time.”_

_I don’t_ ** _have_** _time, unless you want the Spider to appear in the middle of your home base_. But he can tell he’s not going anywhere like this, not yet. “Oh- okay.”

He lets himself lay down again. It's not long before unconsciousness finds him, this time gentle sleep instead of the hard stop of passing out.


End file.
